The Wound's Still Bleeding
by panravenc
Summary: Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude. Or, in which Kakashi's gender isn't the same as her sex and although she suffers from it, life has to go on. Even if it goes on slightly different than what it was supposed to be. Trans!Kakashi.
1. where the realization comes

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 _ **Summary;**_

Kakashi is a girl. Even if her exterior says another thing, even if there's still a penis every time she looks down her legs. It's not okay, it's not alright. She knows it's not exactly common. Her attitude isn't one like a girl though, so it's not really a problem to hide it from the rest. It's just, that she really is one. She wants to be seen as one. And as time passes, maybe her body can be something more than just an object to accomplish missions. Maybe it can be different. Maybe it can change. For the time being, Kakashi will try. Even if her father is not there anymore, even if her heart has betrayed her and has fallen in love. Because Kakashi's a girl despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude. And as she has heard Kushina say a million times; girls don't just give up.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note;**_

Okay, so I alert you all here. First of all, English is not my mother tongue so basically, there will have lots of grammatical errors and simple phrases — because really what do you expect? I'm not an expert here. So, once this has been said, the updates will be slow. I mean, I don't have all the time in the world and this is not the only thing I do with my life, even if I don't do much with it at all. And finally, please, enjoy this fanfic and fangirl over Kakashi and Obito, they're worth it.

Love y'all,

—bluebxrry.

* * *

 _ **Chapter I**_

 _Where The Realization Comes_

* * *

The first time she says she's a girl, she's four, and she has asked her father if he would be willing to buy her a mask. They're sitting on the sofa, relaxing after a training session that was a little harder than the ones she is accustomed to.

"Oh?" He inquires. "Why would you want to wear a mask, Kakashi?" He asks.

And she stays silent for a while, and answers the question truthfully —because she would never, ever, lie to her father—. That doesn't mean it's easy, though.

"Because my face is wrong." She says. And when he demands more explanation, she breathes and answers. "Because my face is a boy's face," she pauses. "and I'm a girl."

So Sakumo sort-of panics, because now he doesn't have a son anymore, because he has never had a _son_ but instead he has a _daughter_ , and he has been referring to her as a son, and he doesn't really understand why Kakashi feels like he—she's a girl, and he really wants to, because he knows that Kakashi would have his— _her_ mother's support were she alive, and it's confusing as hell, but he will try. Because his _daughter_ is a genius, and he knows that Kakashi would only be this certain at something she knows for sure, so yes, he now has a daughter.

(Has always had.)

And Kakashi doesn't really know why is such a big deal —she can _see_ the thoughts running through her father's mind—, but she understands that it's not normal, that even if she's a girl the others will always view her as a boy _because her body it's wrong_.

After that, her father uses feminine pronouns, and though he asks pointless questions like _would you like to wear a skirt_ and _do you want a doll_ —because she's never wanted to wear a skirt before, and she has never asked for a doll, why would she start now, really— and calls her _Kashi-chan_ which is embarrassing enough, she's happy that her father has accepted her.

It makes her smile a little more.

(Her body is still wrong, though.)

(Sometimes it hurts.)


	2. where the teacher listens

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 _ **Summary;**_

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 _ **Chapter II**_

 _Where The Teacher Listens_

* * *

The second time she's six, and she's on a mission with Minato-sensei. They've already completed it, it has been easy enough —because it's a C-rank and she's already a Chūnin—, and now they're returning home.

She doesn't really care about gender anymore —she knows she's a girl, but it doesn't matter because she's a _shinobi_ , not a kunoichi—.

(And if her body helps her to ignore those useless classes about flower arrangements, then no one has to know.)

But they're in some hot-springs Minato-sensei has found on the way back to Konoha, ready to enter.

And that's the problem, really.

Because she's a _girl_.

And she can't enter in the male's bath, that's what rules say. And she's confused, _really_ confused —because where is she supposed to go? She's a girl in a boy's body, and she really _really_ doesn't want to see herself in a mirror again— so she hesitates.

It's all it takes for Minato to know that there's something wrong with his student. "Kakashi-kun?" He asks. "Is something wrong?"

Kakashi wants to scream at his face that _yes_ , yes there's something so utterly wrong with her body because it's not what it's supposed to be because dammit she's a _girl_ —

But he's Minato-sensei, the only one who had been there after her father's suicide —it hurts to think about it, even if she _knows_ that her father had been right about suspending the mission, because he accepted her first, and she would always love him, but now he's dead by his own choice and it _hurts,_ it hurts _so freaking much_ and her heart is aching again, and _oh god how much it hurts_ —, the one that had taken her in, and she's grateful and her instincts are screaming at her, to trust him, to tell him, and he's _Minato-sensei_ , so she opens her mouth and lets the words fall.

"I'm a girl."

It's not subtle, not in the way she wants it to be, but she has said enough and Minato is confused beyond belief.

So, for Minato, she tries again.

"My—My body is wrong, but I'm a girl."

Minato is _seventeen_ , and he doesn't understand the words his brain is trying to process because _Kakashi is a girl_. His little student, his broken-and-fixed-but-not-really student is a girl and he didn't _know_. He didn't know because Kakashi doesn't have a female's body, doesn't behave like one, but she _is_ , and while his mind is still trying to understand it, his body moves before he can say anything about it.

Kakashi is being hugged by her sensei. And she doesn't know what to say.

(The last one was from her father.)

"Okay," Minato says, a little baffled. "Okay." And he breathes again. "You're a girl. That's alright."

"Sensei?" Kakashi asks, a little confused and a little concerned.

He then looks at her in the eye, grabbing her shoulders. The sudden move startles her, but she doesn't let her gaze fall from the cerulean eyes her sensei has. "Kakashi, you don't have to go if you don't want to. But your body is a boy's one, and I don't think civilians would be as accepting as ninjas can be." He looks completely serious, and Kakashi knows he is —how can he not? He's _Minato-sensei_ —. "We can still leave and stay what's left of the afternoon in the Inn, or training. It doesn't matter." The look in his eyes wins weigh and his features soften. "Do you want to enter with me?"

Kakashi looks at him with something akin to adoration and nods if not a little shyly. Oh, Minato doesn't want to know what would happen when the hormones start kicking in, even if he's not sure if she would like boys, girls, or both.

(Because damn she's cute, and if she happens to like boys, she would be so uncomfortable while being a teenager during missions and having to share bathroom and tent with boys all the time that he'd have blackmail for _years_.)

(And when they finally enter in the hot-springs and Kakashi is using a towel to cover her face, Minato finally understands her urge to wear a mask — her face is boyish, even for a kid like her, and it's a little too alike to Sakumo's.)

(He's supposed to be a genius. He really should have noticed her gender before.)

(He's still a little confused, though.)


	3. where pink doesn't define a girl

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Chapter III_**

 _Where Pink Doesn't Define A Girl_

* * *

By the time she's eight, Kushina already knows, and she calls her _Kashi-chan_ despite her obvious dislike towards the nickname —that's her father's nickname for her, dammit—, but after six months of her calling Kakashi that atrocious short form of her name —it's her father's, her father's please it's _her father's_ —, she shrugs it off and lets Kushina go her way —it's her father's, but somehow, it's Kushina's, too—.

When she's eight, Kushina starts buying her skirts.

They're cute.

They are, they really are, but she's far more comfortable with her shinobi attire and with _pants_ and she doesn't really like them because _what do you mean these things are worn without anything but underwear under it_.

Just— No.

She's eight, too, when Minato and Kushina learn that for more than Kakashi is a girl, she's not girly at all. She's focused on training, on the shinobi rules, and on training.

(It's not the skirts that make a girl be a girl.)

(Nor the dresses.)

(And especially not the _dolls_.)

(Ugh.)

(They're creepy, okay?)


	4. where being a team makes you family

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Chapter IV_**

 _Where Being A Team Makes You Family_

* * *

For two years, she is stable enough. She's a Chūnin, training to be a Jōnin, under Minato's tutelage, and she has stopped caring about what her temporary teammates might think when she goes to the male's bathroom instead of the female's because they think she's a boy and that's okay. She doesn't care. And they don't have to know, anyway.

(It still hurts a little every time she sees her penis.)

(She doesn't like going to the bathroom at all.)

But she's ten, and two brats —barely Genin and older than her— recently out from the academy are going to join her with Minato, and they are going to be Team 7 if they pass the test that her sensei has planned.

She hopes not.

But alas, they pass.

And Rin blushes and is kind and a _biological girl_ and Obito's an idiot, a really loud-mouthed one.

Their introductions are a little strange ( _My name is Nohara Rin. I like learning medical ninjutsu and cats, and I dislike spicy meals and liars. I want to be the best medic-nin in the future!_ ), more Obito's than Rin's, because he's loud and shouts the entire time ( _My name is Uchiha Obito! I like dango, cats, playing with Rin and helping baa-san with her groceries! I dislike arrogant kids, and my dream is to be the next Hokage!_ ), but it's not like hers is better ( _Hatake Kakashi. There's nothing else you need to know._ ), so it's alright. She won't be throwing a fit for it.

But from there, it just goes downhill.

Because slowly, almost with caution, but without a warning, Kakashi's heart starts to beat faster. Kakashi's face starts to blush. Kakashi's stomach seems full of insects.

Obito's the cause.

And that's nowhere acceptable.

(Obito's heart beats faster with Rin. Obito's face blushes when he's with Rin.)

(And Rin is not Kakashi.)

(She's jealous. Oh God she's _jealous_.)

And if she starts picking on Obito a little more and starts fighting with him at every opportunity because of it —because then is when he notices her, and she doesn't care if it's childish, because hell if she doesn't know it, but she has his _attention_ dammit—, no one has to know.

But of course, Minato notices it.

He questions her when they're in his house —almost _home_ —, with Kushina away doing the groceries and the two of them alone in his living room.

"Kakashi..." He starts, patient and slow. "Do you have a crush on Obito?" And the bomb is dropped.

Kakashi's face is red.

She doesn't speak, but Minato already knows, and he sighs. His team is the definition of a _love triangle_ , for God's Sake.

(He is not sure he likes his little student having a crush, either. Even if it's Obito.)

(He just hopes he doesn't have to give her _the talk_. His with Jiraiya was _painful_. He's traumatized. For _life_. Maybe Kushina would do it?)


	5. where the mission goes not that wrong

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Chapter V_**

 _Where The Mission Goes Not That Wrong_

* * *

Kakashi's twelve and God help her because her crush on her idiot teammate has not gone away.

Moreover, Obito's a Chūnin now. And he's getting better, and making efforts in their training, and he's fourteen and he _doesn't fucking stop smiling and grabbing her in the missions to go to bath in the rivers together in attempts to see her face and he's terribly cute and oh God why her_ —

(She's sure Minato-sensei is laughing. _Hard_.)

Fortunately, she has control over her emotions and her hormones haven't decided to show up yet, so for the moment, she's safe.

Then she's Jōnin and even if Obito doesn't give her anything as a present for it and it stings a little, and doesn't arrive on time, and blushes when Rin smiles at him —which has her reacting as always, picking on the boy, scolding him and almost initiating a fight between the two of them _again_ — Minato-sensei has given her one of his special kunai, and Rin a personal medic kit. They're useful for the mission, and five minutes later, when Obito barely lets out a small _congratulations_ , she hides a smile.

(Even if it's somewhat pathetic that her crush hates her. It's not her fault she doesn't have social skills.)

(Even if it _is_.)

Her first mission as a Jōnin is to destroy the Kannabi Bridge.

(She's a little nervous. Minato-sensei won't be there. And call it feminine intuition, but she doesn't think it's going to end well.)

The first enemy is there, and she wants to finish this mission _before_ it goes all to hell, so she kills the Iwa-nin with her _Chidori_. It's not a clean cut, though, and it gets a little messy.

(It's messier than usual —blood is in her uniform, on the ground, and in the trees, and in her _hands_ but it's not in _theirs_ , so it's alright—, and Minato-sensei scolds her, but she can't help it. Her gut has been always right, and she believes in her instincts. She needs to get them all _out_. Even if she refuses to accept it sometimes, they're _pack_. And one never wants the pack hurt, or distressed, or altered, for that matter. _Never_.)

In the night, she hears Obito and Minato-sensei talking. She can't sleep, and she fears that her instincts are going to be right. She hopes not.

They're talking about her.

And, yeah, she's nervous.

"I admit that Kakashi is an awesome guy," her teammate says after making sure to whine about how she is always a _prick_ , making her heart beat faster. It's the first time he has praised her, she thinks, and she excuses herself for the excitement that rushes through her veins.

Then their sensei explains to him who is her father, and about _the incident_ , and she's suddenly horrified. Obito is her —however reclutant— crush, and she wants him to think of her as Kakashi, not as the daughter—son of her father. She wants him to look at her, because he's one of the only people who _does_ , and then Minato says _those_ words, and it seems like it's the fucking _end_.

"Obito... Try to understand her, even if it's just a little. Kakashi means well."

 _No_.

Obito _can't_ know.

(He does.)

She thanks the Gods Obito is an idiot, because it seems like he didn't register that Minato-sensei has referred to her as such, and not as _him_. She prays. She doesn't want him to know. Because for all that's worth, Obito's in love with Rin. It doesn't matter if she's a girl or not, because she's selfish and she _knows_ that Obito wouldn't be attracted to her, and if he knows then things would be awkward — she doesn't want that. Obito, with his girls-are-flowers ideology, wouldn't understand. And he would— he would not respond to her actions and would be unsure of how to act with her, and that's a big fat no because Obito's attention is normally focused on her, even if it's just to fight.

She sleeps when the breathings of her teammates and her sensei are heavy enough.

(She prays.)

When Minato-sensei is not there anymore, she breathes.

In. Out. In. Out.

She runs.

Obito and Rin are there, following her.

The dread feeling increases.

They are met with an ambush. And they capture Rin.

And Obito wants to go after her — _of course_ he does— and she accepts it, but she's feeling it again —the way her throat hurts, the slight sting in her heart; she's jealous again and oh God how much it hurts—.

(She doesn't want to feel that. Feeling for Obito makes her heart clench and it hurts. A lot. But she can't help it. Not really.)

(He's too fucking bright, he doesn't stop shining, and she has the certainty that she's going to end half-blind at this pace, but it's not like she can put away her eyes.)

(Damn Uchiha.)

When another Iwa-nin —she's starting to think they're fucking rats, they seem to be multiplying every time she does as much as blink— attacks, she protects Obito and loses her right eye. Her hand is full of blood again, this time it comes from her eye, but that blow did not reach Obito.

It's okay.

She can work with one eye.

(Maybe.)

(And, oh, the irony.)

(She's really half-blind, now.)

While she's resting and trying to see, Obito's crying.

She calls him crybaby.

He kills the Iwa-nin and awakens the _Sharingan_.

She bandages her eye, and they go to rescue Rin.

(She refuses to give her the title of her rival, because really, Rin has all of Obito's affections.)

(And her rival is Obito.)

(And definitely not that weird guy with green spandex that follows her and challenges her every second he can.)

(What a creep, seriously.)

They arrive at the cave, and when she kills the Iwa-nin guarding her teammate, she pulls her tantō a little further than she might have other times, because Obito is hugging Rin.

When they're out of the cave, there's another ambush.

They fight.

And some Iwa-nin is going to stab Obito from behind.

So she just steps aside from her battle and decides that losing her life to save her friend-crush-rival-whatever is worth it.

A flash of yellow is the last thing she sees.

(Then, it's all black.)

She wakes up in the hospital, _Konoha's_ hospital —the scent is the same, the sunlight that is _home_ — and confused as she is, she can't stop the blush nor the racing heart when the first thing she sees is Obito sleeping, head in the hospital bed she is in, and holding her hand like she's going to disappear the second he lets go.

It's five in the morning, she notices. What the calendar marks shocks her a little — she has spent two weeks sleeping.

(Or in a coma, but she doesn't really know.)

Tired, she yawns and closes her eyes.

Kakashi falls asleep holding Obito's hand a little tighter.

(She wakes up with Obito holding her hand tighter than before and looking at her with despair in his eyes.)

(He fucking _cries_.)

(She does, too.)


	6. where there are tears falling

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Chapter VI_**

 _Where There Are Tears Falling Through His Face_

* * *

Kakashi's finally fourteen and she's ready to bang her head on a wall repeatedly because, and that's a thing she'll only ever admit to herself —and to Minato-sensei, because he's omnipotent and somehow manages to read her mind—, she _likes_ Obito.

 _Damn it_ is what she thinks.

Not because Obito isn't a likeable guy —which he is, and he's sixteen now too, and her hormones have awakened and he just _can't fucking have the shirt on when they're training_ —, but because it's _Obito_ and now they're like best _friends_ and it's been that way since the Kannabi Bridge mission.

And that's okay, it really is, and it's more than she could have ever hoped, but he still thinks she's a boy, and that would be okay if they didn't bathe together in missions and didn't share beds in hotels _and Minato-sensei wasn't laughing with his eyes every time he caught Kakashi with her face red._

(It happens every time, though. Obito has a fine ass. It's not her fault.) _  
_

So, yeah, Kakashi is ready to bang her head on a wall.

It's when they're on the training grounds —because even though she can open both eyes, the one that was stabbed isn't pretty, and she can't see through it, and because damn if being a ninja with one eye isn't difficult— that they hear the news. It seems like some Kiri-nin had sealed the Sanbi in a Konoha-nin, which made them commit suicide —and damn if that doesn't hit a little too close to home, but she just pushes her father's memories in the back of her head and knows that she will ignore them until she's back home and can look at her father's photography, and maybe cry a little because that's something she has not done in a while—. Then they heard that it was an Uchiha, and the Uchiha Clan is agitated — _this is war_ , it repeats inside their minds—, but they make a funeral for the ninja that put the safety of their village before their own life, and in the safety of their homes, the ones that knew them cry.

The day of the funeral, Obito can't stop whining, because _I hate funerals, Bakashi! They're so gloomy, even if it doesn't rain! And did you know that it's a clan obligation? As if that stuck-ups would want me there, either way!_ And if he makes her go with his well-trained puppy eyes —not that he needed them if he wanted her to _really_ go—, or if she thinks already in her black clothes that she, too, hates funerals —there wasn't one for _him_ , and how unfair was that?—, no one says anything.

(There's no one there that will say anything.)

(There's one more corpse under the ground of Konoha.)

(And Kakashi can't thank anyone, but she's grateful that it wasn't Obito.)

(Because yeah, she's aware, it could have been him.)

(She's a shinobi.)

(She has _always_ been aware.)

(But oh, thank God it wasn't.)

It's when she's fourteen, too, that Obito's grandmother passes on —yet another funeral, though in this one there's one person crying and it _hurts_ —, and it's when she's fourteen that Obito leans on her and cries, cries like she has never seen him do —except that occasion where she woke up in a hospital bed after nearly dying in the Kannabi Bridge mission trying to save him, but that was because the idiot _had something in the eyes_ , so she doesn't know if he wants her to count it or not—.

"It hurts." He says, and his voice is broken. "It hurts so much."

Kakashi nods because she _knows_ , but doesn't say anything. She hugs him a little tighter and rubs his back, she lets her hand caress his hair and allows him to cuddle with her in her bed, and Minato-sensei is going to throw a fit, but as they say, desperate times require desperate measures.

He falls asleep soon — but not too soon, and he talks to her but not really, because he's telling all the stories he can remember about his grandmother, who was kind and scary and a lot of things that she doesn't really understand because he's sobbing, but she just hugs him and lets him break down in her arms.

(Obito's sixteen and Kakashi's fourteen, but Kakashi doesn't want anything more than a taste of his lips.)

(When he's sleeping, clinging to her and making her heart beat faster even if _now's not the time_ , she puts down her mask with trembling hands and gives him a peck on the lips.)

(It tastes awfully like tears and sweets.)


	7. where wrong bodies are out of the bag

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Chapter VII_**

 _Where Wrong Bodies Are Out Of The Bag_

* * *

She's fifteen and Kakashi can't take it anymore. Obito's seventeen, and _hot_ , and since his grandmother died touches her more, and he's _the fucking guy who she is in love with_ —she's come to accept it, despite the smug looks Minato-sensei throws her way—, so _no_ , Kakashi can't take it anymore.

Which leads her to the conclusion that telling her teammates —and best friends, because that was bound to happen since the beginning— about her gender may be okay.

When she tells Minato and Kushina this, they're ecstatic —she's still their _Kashi-chan_ in private, even if it irritates her—.

"You're planning on telling them, Kashi-chan?" Kushina asks, putting in her dish more food that she can eat. "I, for one, think it's a good idea. Obito may blush, though. You've shared bathroom _and_ bedroom, after all-ttebane."

(And if Kakashi blushes, Minato laughs and there's a foxy smile on Kushina's lips, well, there isn't someone else who can say anything about it.)

(Kakashi sure as hell _won't_.)

For all that she tries not to be, Kakashi's getting nervous. She repeats like a mantra in her head that it's not necessary, that they're _Obito_ and _Rin_ and that there's nothing to fear but _oh God what would they think and what if they think she's been lying all this time—_

Five years, in fact.

And then—

Then she's _tapping her foot on the floor_.

Because she's _nervous_.

Kakashi breathes.

 _It. Doesn't. Work._

She breathes again. And closes her eyes, and imagine she's not about to tell her best friend and love interest that she's a girl and not a boy and that she's seen Obito's naked body more times than she can count and she's a girl and—

 _That's. Not. Working._

"Kakashi!" she hears from across the training ground. It's Rin. "Obito's going to join us now — said he had something to do before."

So she nods, because she can't fucking talk, and waits for the idiot that hasn't changed at all.

Thirteen minutes later, said idiot arrives.

"Sorry, Bakashi, but you see, there was this old lady with her groceries on hand and I just had to help her, you know? And then there was this cat trapped..." He grins, and _fuck_ , because he knows he has been forgiven the moment she sighs, and Kakashi doesn't really want to, but she knows how horrible she is at staying angry at him — because he's _Obito_ and her limit has not once surpassed the five minutes line.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Rin asks.

Kakashi breathes.

 _It's going to be okay_ , she thinks.

 _It's going to be okay._

"I—"

Shit.

She can't talk.

She can't even gain the courage to tell them.

She's really pathetic.

But she breathes.

And tries again.

"I am—"

Breathebreathebreathebreathe _breathe_ —

"I am a—"

Inoutinoutinoutinout _inoutinout_ —

"—a girl."

There.

She has said it.

And maybe it's all over now, but they deserve to know.

Because maybe next week they'll be Jōnin and maybe they will disband and go on missions with other ninjas, so yeah, they deserve to know.

They really do.

But the silence's suffocating.

And God, had she forgotten how to breathe?

She shouldn't have said that.

She shouldn't have, _oh God_ , she shouldn't have—

"What?"

And that's Obito.

( _She shouldn't have_ —)

"Idiot," says Rin softly. "Kakashi has just said that he—sorry— _she's_ a— a girl, and all you have to say is _what_?"

"Well, it's pretty damn confusing!" He shouts.

"I know that it's not normal because my body's wrong but—" Kakashi blurts. "But I'm a girl. Always had been."

Rin smiles. And it's kind, and the tears that were trying to run into her cheeks disappear —they're saved for when she gets home and just breathes in pure relief—, and Obito's silent but Rin's still there.

"So, you're really a girl? Like, even if you have male parts and all that?"

Obito's so freaking _rude_.

But, yeah, she's still in love with him.

"Um— yeah."

And that is all that her mouth lets out.

"Oh."

That's all he says.

And then he blushes.

Like _mad_.

"And you, erm, when we bathed...?"

Kakashi's blushing now, too.

Rin's just gaping.

"And the times we shared tent...?"

Kakashi's sure she could be winning a contest of _who is redder, the tomato's or your face?_ Because _shit._ She doesn't want to think about all the times she's seen Obito in _nothing_. Not _now._ She does it already at home, thank you very much.

Though that's a thing he doesn't really need to know.

"And, um, that time at my house...?"

Yeah, catching your best friend masturbate was awkward.

Like, a whole new level of awkward.

(She has dubbed that situation as _that_ incident, to be honest.)

(And, yeah. It was an accident.)

(Even if it _was_ hot.)

"Err. Yes. Yeah. All of those. Sorry."

And Rin doesn't understand what's happening —they're both blushing so hard it's almost ridiculous— but she has a good intuition, and so she's the next one to talk.

"Well, whatever those moments are," she says even when she's trying to keep her curiosity at bay, because really, they seemed tomatoes and just what kind of memory does that? No, wait. Scratch that. She doesn'twant to know. "Either way, I'm sure you'll be fine. Now, let's go and eat to celebrate that our teammate and best friend has come out to us. Come on, Kakashi-chan, Obito."

And just like that, Kakashi and Obito grin at each other, a little embarrassed, and follow their other best friend.

 _Yes_ , Kakashi thinks, _it's going to be okay_.

(Once she arrives home, though, her head it's still replaying _that_ incident.)

( _Shit_.)

(The following morning, Obito apologises —which is weird _as fuck_ — and _stutters_.)

("I—If you're a girl, then I suppose it's okay. You're— I mean, you're still my best friend... right?")

(And if Kakashi smiles softly under her mask and blushes, no one has to know.)

("Yeah.")


	8. where news are announced

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Chapter VIII_**

 _Where News Are Announced_

* * *

Months later, she has passed the awkward phase of "my best friend's a girl" with Obito and the "my other best friend's now my shopping buddy" with Rin. It's good, to have her best friends back. Not that seeing Obito blush wasn't amusing, but it was only for a while. And she's glad that Rin has finally understood that she's _not_ thrilled by shopping. Really.

But, all in all, she's just happy to have them back.

(Like, really. Obito's seventeen. A shinobi. He should know better than blushing when they're sharing a tent in the middle of a mission. But, well, he's _Obito_.)

It's spring when Minato-sensei —who's not their sensei anymore, because he's the Hokage, and they're all Jōnin and thank Goodness still on the same team, though they go to missions with other ninjas too— calls them and invites them to supper. It's not _that_ strange, but they haven't seen nor Minato-sensei nor Kushina too much in the last five months, so it's okay if they're a little excited about it.

She has let her hair long since after coming out to her teammates, and now's at her shoulder length — and damn if she's not proud of it. But Minato-sensei and Kushina haven't seen it yet, so she thinks that it'd be a good surprise.

(And it _is_ , but theirs is much bigger than hers.)

When they arrive at their sensei's home, she notices Rin wearing a cute pink dress. It's not her style, she knows, but maybe—someday, she will wear something a little more girlish. And it's a maybe, not because she's not sure, but because right now she's fifteen and she's kind of confused because she has never wanted skirts nor makeup, and suddenly she wants to _try_ , to let herself see what she would look like with them. She sighs, a little stressed because it's difficult being a teenager with hormones and new sensations and feelings and — yeah, it's kind of a mess.

Obito, though, looks handsome. Perfect. Well, not really, because he's not perfect, but he's not wearing his ninja attire as usual, instead, he's wearing this shirt who does wonders and those trousers who Kakashi thinks would look a lot better in her bedroom's floor, dropped by Obito himself while they're in her bed, kissing and—

Yeah, being a teenager is a mess.

She's just wearing her mask, a shirt, and her favourite pants, which are grey. Nothing from the usual.

She knocks when she has calmed down a little.

"Minato-sensei, we're here!" Rin shouts.

The moment Minato opens the door — he's smiling happily. It feels like he's the sun itself —and maybe that's the adoration talking, but the three of them had seen Minato at his worst and _damn_ , because they're already breathing the positivity that radiates from him— and they can't wait to hear what has him so excited.

It's once they're inside the house and they see Kushina that Rin gasps, Obito is left dumbfounded and Kakashi feels her heart melt.

"Surprise!" she says, with a big smile. "We're having a baby!"

Kakashi is going to have a little brother.

 _Oh God, she's going to have a little brother_.

(Because, yeah, this man who has blond hair and blue eyes and smells like spring breeze is her father —and Sakumo will always have a part of her heart, but Minato has his, too—. )

And she couldn't be happier.

(Later, when Minato and Kushina notice the change in her hair, and Rin and Obito are gone, she smiles. "Do you think Tsunade would be up to a sex-changing operation?")

(And she's not exactly shy, but there are a blush and a little smile hidden by her mask.)

(Kushina smiles.)

(Minato cries.)

("Our baby is going to have a big sister, Mina-chan!")

("They would have had one even if she didn't want to change her sex, Kushina.")

("Well, yeah, but now they won't be confused-ttebane!")

(For some reason, she can't stop thinking about a blond, with blue eyes and foxy smiles, baby brother that calls her "nee-chan".)

(Maybe it will all be okay, wrong body and all.)


	9. where there's the fall

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Chapter IX_**

 _Where There's The Fall_

* * *

Kakashi can't believe it, because _today's the day_. Kushina's going on labour. She's nervous, probably sweating, and Obito is as nervous as her. Rin will be helping Biwako, the Sandaime's wife, and for Goodness sake _Kushina's going on labour_.

Yes. Yes, she is panicking.

She's sixteen, and this is the first time she's assisting something like this, and this is _Kushina_ , so.

She has all the rights to do it.

(Minato has them, too.)

They're already on location, and Rin, Biwako and another medic-nin are there, helping, while she and Obito —and the Yondaime's Guard, which includes Genma, Raidou, and some other guy she doesn't know nor has she bothered with learning his name— guard the entrance. Obito tries, and tries again, to make conversation. Not that she blames him, because the tension is high and if there's something Obito can't take, is exactly that.

(But _hell_ , because she's tapping with her feet the floor _again_.)

(She. Has. The. Rights.)

They hear Biwako and Rin telling Kushina to push, push more _he's almost there_ , and trembling inwardly, they hear again Kushina scream. Obito shudders, and for more than Kakashi has daydreamed a few times of silver-haired kids that have the Sharingan, she doesn't really want to go through that —because Kushina is _screaming_ , and Kakashi thinks this is the first time she has heard her do so—.

Then they hear a baby's cry, and to be honest it makes Kakashi's heart go faster than in any situation before —except maybe when she's having, you know, _moments_ with Obito, which normally include just hanging out or touching in some kind of friendly way, or what she interprets as friendly, because really, she's emotionally stunned, a social inept that can't read signals from a mile away; _Obito's head over heels why can't she see it_ ; and Rin sighs— and she can't stop thinking, _can't literally stop thinking_ , about a boy with blond hair that looks up to her because she's his big sister.

(Her mind is one of a genius. She can't stop it. Nor she wants it, right now.)

(Not even a second later, she and Obito enter the room, and it's hard not to cry, not to stare in wonder at the little body that's currently being washed by the Sandaime's wife.)

( _She has a little brother._ )

Obviously, as it will be proven countless times in the future, nothing comes easily while dealing with one Uzumaki Naruto, and in less than ten seconds, an intruder is holding him and threatening them.

Kakashi freezes, and it's not until Minato runs away with Naruto that she reacts. At the same time as Obito, they attack the intruder.

(There's a Sharingan. A Sharingan. _A Sharing_ —)

( _Where are the others?_ )

They're holding their own, that's right, but the guy is _good_. He's fast and strong and has his eye shifting, with weird patterns in it— it almost seems like an evolved Sharingan.

("Let's dance." she hears him say.)

Then they're fighting, and cuts bleed all across her skin and maybe she won't be leaving alive, but she sure as hell wants to at least cause him injuries. _Major_ injuries. Rin is with Kushina, Minato and little Naruto. Biwako is already dead. Maybe she'll be the next.

Obito is by her side, and it doesn't really explain the rush of adrenaline, but she loves fighting along with him. Because their attacks are coordinated, they act as one, and after what seems a lifetime, they wound their enemy for the first time.

(It terrifies her a little, to think that not even two Jōnins can prove to be a challenge to the guy.)

He doesn't rage at the sight of his own blood, and then _regenerates himself_. Kakashi is officially freaked out.

(Not that she shows it.)

The speed improves in a nanosecond and before she can move, Obito is losing blood at an alarming rate. He's almost been _cut by half_.

Kakashi _trembles_.

(Kakashi's crying.)

Minato then reappears, but it's too late because in her distraction Kushina's been taken and Rin's not strong enough to battle alone _what the hell was she thinking_ —

But Minato's hand is on her shoulder and as he whispers goodbye he calms her, and lets her stay.

(And she knows this because she's still there when Minato's not.)

So she sits beside Obito and holds his hand.

Obito's smiling at her, and Kakashi cannot do anything but try to forgive herself because she should be fighting, not holding his hand, not trying to capture with her eyes every little detail because this can be the last chance to do it.

"My— right," Obito murmurs. "Right eye. Take it. I won't— Won't make it." and then he coughs _blood_.

Once the words register themselves in her brain, she shakes her head. Because—

No.

This can't be—

This can't be happening.

She shakes her head, because—

Because—

Because Obito can't be dying.

Obito can't—

"Take it. A few days—" he smiles softly, and: "—late, but—"

Kakashi can't stop the tears.

 _No._

Nonononononononono _nono_ —

"Happy birthday, 'Kashi."

(Then, his right eye is in her body and hers is no longer damaged.)

(She has two eyes that _work_.)

(She doesn't want them if the price is Obito's life.)

He smiles for what it seems like the last time, and though it's just a whisper, she can hear it.

His last words are for her ears only, maybe not even that, and it breaks everything Kakashi is.

She doesn't register Rin shaking her.

She doesn't register _anything_.

Kakashi's crying and she doesn't even bother hiding it.

She _screams_.

(Rin's hugging her, but it's not like she notices it, just like she hasn't noticed the Kyuubi, just like she hasn't noticed that the scent of Death is filling the air.)

(Obito's last breath is in her mind.)

( _If only she had been faster._ )

Kakashi doesn't leave the state of numbness, and it's only after Rin starts healing Obito that she reacts.

Kakashi sees the Kyuubi.

And with a nod to Rin, because this might not be Obito's last day in the land of living —because Rin's the best medic-nin in Konoha, even at 18, because Rin's the best they have and Rin's always been the best if it concerns her team—, she leaves.

( _Sensei_ needs her right now.)

(Her _Hokage_ needs her right now.)

(And she moves, even if it breaks her even more to do so.)

(Because Kakashi's a shinobi.)

(Has always been.)

But Kakashi arrives and the image of Death will always be recorded in her brain, more now that she has a Sharingan in the open.

(Kakashi arrives and there's little Naruto in what seems to be a Ritual Altar and the Kyuubi has Kushina's chains restraining him and Minato's marked by a seal she _doesn't understand_ —)

It's thanks to the Sharingan that she sees Kushina and Minato move before they actually do.

It's thanks to Obito's Sharingan that she can predict the trajectory of Kyuubi's claw.

It's thanks to Obito that she moves fast enough to catch Kushina in time.

(She isn't fast enough to catch Minato.)

Tears fall one more time — Minato's body is pierced by the Kyuubi.

(Minato's blood is everywhere.)

(The scent is horrifying, and Kakashi has the feeling that she wouldn't forget this moment even if she didn't have the Sharingan.)

"I won't—" he begins. "—see you grow, Naruto. Try to listen to your mother, she knows what's the best for you. Be good, and show your love because god knows everyone in this family needs it." he chuckles. "Kushina will take care of you, so don't worry. Kakashi will help, and Rin too. Maybe you won't meet your big brother, so I'll tell you his name: Obito. Smile, and—"

Kakashi's fighting with Kushina, because as much as she wants to go there and somehow help her _father_ to survive —she had failed one, and now she's failed the second, and she doesn't think she'll ever see anyone in that light again—, she needs Kushina alive. _Naruto_ needs Kushina alive.

(Because Kakashi alone won't suffice because she's messed up, and Rin's always working at the hospital.)

(Kakashi prefers not to think about Obito right now.)

"I love you."

Minato's last words make echo through the valley, and Kakashi can't do it anymore.

Kakashi screams again, and cries and cries and _cries_.

(Why are their last words the same? It isn't _fair_.)

Then the Kyuubi is sealed.

(The Kyuubi is sealed and Minato's body falls.)

(Kushina's chains breaks.)

(And Kakashi faints.)


	10. where ashes begin to dim

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Chapter X_**

 _Where Ashes Begin To Dim_

* * *

It's been a year and a half, and Kakashi's eighteen.

She—

She hasn't cared for a year and a half, about that.

(Because she's eighteen and Obito's in a coma. Because she's eighteen and Kushina can't walk. Because she's eighteen and Naruto is one of the only constants she has but _she doesn't know how to take care of a baby_ and it's really, really scary, to do so. Because she's eighteen and she's so lucky that Rin's _alive_ and _well_ that for the firsts months after the Kyuubi attack she cries every time she sees her.)

(Because she's eighteen and Minato-sensei's _dead_.)

(Because her _father_ is dead.)

(Because she's eighteen but she was seventeen and lost a father and a best-friend-not-quite-turned-lover, because she was seventeen and sleeping in the same bed as her pack seven nights a week because without them she couldn't even close her eyes, because she was seventeen and almost suicidal when she first accepted Gai's attempt to make a friend out of her and since then it's all a little better but still hard.)

(Because she's eighteen and she doesn't really care.)

( _She's only survived because of Obito's Sharingan._ )

( _There aren't mirrors inside her apartment._ )

(It _hurts_.)

She has been— lucky, you could say, despite all of it. Rin's almost unscattered —she has this big scar all across her face, but she's whole and absolutely _alive_ , which matters her the most—, and Gai is her friend, and her pack are wonderful hunter dogs who cuddle with her at night, and Kushina might not walk but maybe she will —and _hell_ if that isn't wonderful news—, and she has _Naruto_.

Naruto, who is her little brother and smiles and hurts to watch because _Minato-sensei_ , but he's her little brother and a ray of sunshine —who has a mother at the hospital, a dead father, a dysfunctional big sister, a big brother in a coma and another big sister working to death because the 10th of October was truly a dark day—.

Naruto, who is known as the Jinchuuriki because of some idiot nurse who was terrified of a baby.

( _What the hell is that piece of trash doing in a hospital for ninja, then?_ )

Naruto, who is currently in her arms because of the daily visit to Kushina's hospital room.

( _Soon_ , she repeats to herself, _soon_.)

(Kushina will get away from the hospital in less than two months.)

"Good morning, Kushina-nee-san." she greets when she opens the door. "How do you feel today?"

She can practically _see_ the pout on the woman's face when she answers. "I'm certainly good enough to go out-ttebane!" and then she grins. "Now, let me see my baby!"

Kakashi smiles —for what can she do— and nods. "He's been a good pup."

Kushina laughs at the terminology, but thinks that it's a little sad, that Kakashi can only relate to dogs' way of viewing family. "He's been a good boy, then-ttebane."

(Kushina proceeded to cuddle with her son. Kakashi knows how much it hurts her not to be with him twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year, and every year of his life until he's old enough to take care of himself. But even Kakashi doesn't know how deep her inner turmoils are, because even in Minato's death, even crying and after having a Bijuu extracted from her body, Kushina stayed strong.)

( _Mother is so strong_ , she thinks to herself.)

Without any warning, the door opens. Rin's there, smiling and with a wheelchair in hand.

"Good morning, Kushina-nee-san, Kakashi-chan, Naru-chan." she says while giving them pecks at their cheeks. "Well, how about we go outside for a while?"

(Kakashi has always marvelled at Rin. Always kind, always smiling.)

(She still remembers all the nights the two of them cried together.)

Naruto giggles, and for all that Kakashi is downright depressed since what seems like forever, she smiles.

Kakashi's eighteen, and Kushina will be soon out of the hospital.

Kakashi's eighteen and she can sleep without her pack's help more than thrice a week.

Kakashi's eighteen and Gai distracts her enough to keep going.

Kakashi's eighteen and depressed but not suicidal.

(Kakashi's eighteen and her body is more masculine than ever, but there are other matters she has to attend that have more importance right now.)

(Like the fact that most of her pack is alive. The human pack, that is. The dog one is whole. _Thank god_.)

(Kakashi's eighteen and Obito's not there, but she has faith.)

(Obito's always been stubborn.)

It's been a year and a half since that day, and Kakashi doesn't exactly know what the future will bring, but laughing with Rin and Kushina and Naruto is great.

When Gai crashes to greet them and challenges her, she laughs. Well, technically, Gai challenges _him_ , but she swears — one day, he will know, too.

Maybe when her depression is lifted.

(She thinks of Obito and blushing faces and knows that it won't be the same, because he's not Obito and never will be, but he's her friend and in the way of being her best friend, so it might be okay, to tell him.)

(She wishes for Obito to wake up, just like she always does.)

(Now that she thinks about it, she's been arriving late at the meetings, too.)

(Though maybe that's because she's been visiting Obito way too much.)

(Once Obito opens his eye —in singular because now she has one of his—, she will _kiss him._ And he will _feel_ her tongue in his throat if that's what's necessary for him to stay.)

( _Hmpf._ )


	11. where there's no light

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Chapter XI_**

 _Where There's No Light_

* * *

It's difficult to describe the way Obito's feeling.

Obito's flying, drunk on darkness.

He's floating in a sea of obscurity and he thinks he may be getting addicted to it.

He remembers feeling like this when he was younger, with no worries more than arriving late and without death in his back.

When Obito thinks back to his early academy days, he thinks of her.

Her who was kind and had always a smile on her face.

Her who was his only friend, her who always had words to make him feel better.

Her whose name was Rin and who had held his heart for years.

But it's not about her anymore.

(He realized this at sixteen.)

Because he'd been put on a team with an arrogant prat and the girl of his dreams and the most awesome teacher _ever_.

He was twelve and dreamed about being Hokage, and was loud —so very loud, _too_ loud sometimes, but it was _so lonely_ without something filling that void called silence—, and had fought the brat two years younger than him but also _so much better_ than him that it was almost suffocating, to fight with him. Or, what he believed to be a _him_ , either way.

It wasn't until he was fourteen, somewhen before _that mission_ , that he started liking Kakashi. It wasn't obvious, not like it had been with Rin, so he hadn't put much thought into it.

Then they've been friends —because if someone had lost an eye for him, then he couldn't be that bad, right?— and then his grandma had died. His grandma had died and he was so lost without her, so _empty_.

So he'd gone to Kakashi's home and he'd cried. He'd cried and talked and screamed, had fallen asleep in Kakashi's arms and their relationship had done another step. And he realized, oh, _he realized._

 _I like Kakashi_ , was what had gone through his head once his thoughts have organised themselves and he'd stopped grieving.

The realization had been shocking.

Then he proceeded to, at sixteen, be a pining teen.

Of course, Rin noticed.

(She chuckled and smiled and _god_ , Obito loved that smile. So he smiled too and she hugged him, kissed him on the cheek and said: _"I'm so glad, Obito."_ )

(Rin was his sister from another mother and nothing could change that.)

At seventeen, Kakashi had come out to them. So, Kakashi was a girl. And it had been so confusing because he didn't care, was still head over heels for her, had taken it on a stroll and he had been perfectly okay with it.

So he hadn't cared. Not really.

But—

But it was still embarrassing that _a girl_ had caught him like— like _that_.

Because, yeah, it had been embarrassing beyond everything he had known when Kakashi had caught him, but those— those type of things weren't to be seen by girls!

(His grandma had drilled into his head that he had to be a gentleman with girls, forever and always.)

(And Kakashi at that time had been a boy, a boy he liked but still a boy.)

(Well, a girl, but he _hadn't known that_.)

And from then on—

Well.

He can admit, now— in this state of peacefulness, that he'd done, things, he can't say he regrets, but absolutely has no intentions of letting anyone know.

Like the fact that he'd kissed Kakashi when she was sleeping one night in their tent.

Or like the fact that he'd checked Kakashi out when they'd been in the bathrooms.

Or the fact that he'd hugged and cuddled with Kakashi when she was asleep.

He—

He just likes cuddles, okay.

So, anyway, Obito can honestly say that he loves her.

Her whose smiles were so rare but so beautiful at the same time.

Her who fought him in every step they made but also was so incredibly ready to help him whenever he needed it.

Her who was one of the most efficient ninjas in their whole village.

Her whose gender differed from her biological sex.

Her whose name was Kakashi.

(Her who he would follow until the end of the line.)

In his darkness, Obito remembers little of what he'd been doing before it. And although he remembers Kushina's pregnancy, Minato's nerves and Kakashi's breaks down —she was going to be a big sister, you know—, he can't remember why he's here and not there.

He wants to see them, he really does, but—

Maybe he'll wait a little.

(Because he's in peace and so full of bliss, so much like completely calm with the universe—)

(He can't abandon this, not when he'd been through war and had been dealing with PTSD.)

But—

(His eye. His eye. Hiseyehiseye _hiseye_ —)

But—

(Kakashi. Kakashi. KakashiKakashiKakashi _Kakashi_ —)

And—

(Hurt. Hurt. Hurthurthurthurthurthurt _hurt_ —)

So—

(With a gasp, Obito wakes up.)


	12. where lips are locked

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Chapter XII_**

 _Where Lips Are Locked And Eyes Not Closed_

* * *

There's no warning. Kakashi's nineteen, and it's been three long years since _that day_. Kakashi's nineteen and completely unprepared, absolutely horrified by it — and by that she means that she's afraid, afraid like she's been only a few times in her life, so few that she can count them in one hand.

The thing is—

Is—

 _Obito's awake._

And she's crying, trembling, fucking _terrified_ —

Obito is—

Obito is awake.

(Relief runs through her like a wave of shock, and it makes her knees so weak she stumbles and falls to the ground, with tears falling and completely unashamed of it, because for all that she's a shinobi, she's human, too.)

When she returns to her senses, she _runs_.

(She does remember to do it through the roofs, though. No need to scare the population of Konoha, even if she doesn't give a shit about them.)

She runs and runs and runs and—

She comes to a halt when she's a jump away from Obito's window on the hospital.

He's—

Obito is—

Oh god, _oh god_.

She jumps and opens the window and—

"You idiot!"

And if her voice sounds strangled, if she chokes between tears, it doesn't matter, because Obito doesn't even have time to react before Kakashi's on top of him, hugging and crying and murmuring things not unlike the first words she has said to him since he's awake.

To his surprise, Kakashi lowers her mask.

"You—" and then she _kisses_ him, "Absolute—" and _again_ , "Big—" and _again_ , "Idiot!" and _again_.

(Obito doesn't reject them, because he's wanted them for a long time, but is still a little bit confused. More than a little bit. But either way, it's not like he can think that much because _Kakashi's lips are on his_ —)

Their kiss intensifies and Kakashi can't be more grateful that he's responding, because that means he's awake, that means he's _alive_ , and _hell_. She's wanted that for three agonizing years. And it _burns_ , but— somehow, it's a good type of burn.

They part with gasps, trying to catch their breaths.

"I love you."

The words are rushed, Kakashi's still panting, but her eyes haven't wavered.

"I love you, loveyouloveyou _loveyoulov_ —"

Obito pushes her to another kiss, this one with tongue, and with teeth clashes because they're desperate for each other —because Obito has only wakened up for Kakashi, and Kakashi's been waiting for a long time just to see his eyes-now-eye again—.

Kakashi's tears haven't stopped, not since she'd received the news from the hawk from Rin.

Kakashi doesn't know how much time they'd been kissing, but her lips are swollen as much as Obito's, and their grip on each other is still strong.

(And maybe it's time to stop because Obito's just awakened from a coma, and he's weak, right now. But she doesn't want to, and neither does Obito.)

("I—" Obito says between kisses, "Love you—Mph—" and then continues, with a soft smile, "Too." )

(Then Kakashi smiles.)

("I know.")

(Then they proceed to kiss again.)

They're just cuddling, and Kakashi's trying to reassure herself that _yes_ , this is real and not a dream.

And, if only for this once, she tries to believe.

They don't even hear the door opening, revealing Rin along with Kushina and Naruto. "Well, it seems that Kakashi-chan arrived earlier than us, Nee-san, Naru-chan." And Rin hides her delicate laugh behind her hand, but it doesn't work because there's a smile on her face big enough to brighten the entire planet.

"It seems so-ttebane." Kushina says, already with a big smile on her face. She laughs when Kakashi and Obito let out little yelps because they hadn't noticed their presence and— anyways. "Come on, let's greet 'em. Look, Naru-chan, Kashi-nee-chan and Obito-nii-chan are awake."

(And Kakashi's heart breaks a little and heals a little too, because Naruto's meeting with Obito for the first time, and they're so much alike, personality-wise, that she can't help but think that he's going to steal her little brother.)

(She'll share, though.)

(Because he's his big brother, too.)

Obito looks surprised, but not too much —he's already been given the "you've just woken up from a coma" talk, and apparently, there's one— and gives the two women and the child a gentle smile. "Hey there, Naru-chan."

"'Ello," the blond says, uncertain. "Obi—Bi—Ob—"

Kakashi smiles, gentle and caring and loving, and says: "It's Obito, Naru-chan. O-Bi-To."

"O-Bi—" he pauses. "Bi—To." and then he smiles, proud. "To!"

(And Obito laughs — the sound makes the three women heart's clench, but it's okay, because this is Obito and it's a sound they thought they would never hear again.)

"You really are cute, aren't you, Naru-chan?"

They laugh at his teasing tone, but Naruto doesn't quite catch it — so he smiles, and laughs with the rest of his family.

Two hours later they're kicked out by the other staff, but promise to return tomorrow.

(Kakashi leaves with a kiss on his lips and a whispered "I love you" that doesn't go unheard.)

(Kakashi then lifts her mask again and walks away, lighter than ever before and with a smile that reaches her eyes.)

(She's so happy, so utterly _happy_.)

(His lips still taste like sweets.)

* * *

Author's Note;

Okay, first of all, you are all amazing and I appreciate the support you've given me. Love ya. And as I usually don't leave notes at the end, sorry for that by the way, I'll just say that you are all amazing. I'll try to leave more notes and all that jazz. Anyways, I don't think I'll be posting much until all my exams are finished, so sorry for that. I hope you've liked the chapter —and the story—, because I give my best.

And, well, that was it. I think. My brain's bit dead by now, because it's like eleven pm and my god I haven't slept in days, but I just had to write this chapter. By the 16th of June my exams will be finished —if I pass them all— and then I'm going to write like a madman, I just know it.

Love y'all,

—bluebxrry.


	13. where dark roots lurk

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Chapter XIII_**

 _Where Dark Roots Lurk_

* * *

Kakashi is nineteen and for the first time in three years, she's happy. Completely and fully happy. With smiles and all.

(Obito may or may not be the cause. Kushina walking may or may not contribute. Rin having more time may or may not be part of it. Naruto's smile has a lot to do with it, either way.)

Kakashi's ANBU, has been one since that 10th of October. It has nothing to do with protecting the village and all with protecting her heart. Because Kakashi lost a father and _Obito_ , almost Kushina and Rin, too. And she didn't cope with it.

(Didn't know how.)

In her time in ANBU, she makes ANBU Captain in record time and trusts her squad with everything she is — inside the missions, that is.

(Because they still don't know how embarrassing is that she has to change in the same room as them, how she hates her body everytime she gets to see it, how she can't bring herself to even _look_ at it some days.)

In her time in ANBU, Hound —Kakashi— is revered, has completed missions deemed suicidal and has led her squad through impossible after impossible. She has returned home with all her squad alive time after time and has the record on least casualties on missions _ever_.

In her time in ANBU, Danzo approaches her and makes her see the ugliest part of Konoha. ROOT is darkness, but she knows — on her own, she won't be able to do anything. So she turns to her Hokage, tells everything to him and accepts Danzo's offer. She infiltrates. She goes to the deepest part of Konoha and digs into its roots.

(And she is loyal to Konoha, but this isn't it.)

(It breaks her further, to know her home has a side so dark most of them can't see it.)

Investigating, she comes to find a specific file.

It contains Naruto's information.

(She loses it.)

(Then she researches more and more and more and her sanity begins to slip through her fingers with every word she reads.)

(How Danzo doesn't notice a thing she doesn't know, but maybe it has to do with the fact that the Sandaime is making his life much more difficult since she first reported his approaching.)

In her time in ANBU, Kakashi reunites her squad and goes to the Hokage just to show him the files she's found. And so she is given a mission with a face full of regrets and eyes lingering with heaviness.

( _"Wipe them out."_ )

(She gladly does.)

(Naruto is then three years old and he is going to be safe soon — she ends the threat in less than three months.)

(Though technically, she and a bunch of ANBU do it.)

Kakashi is nineteen and ANBU Captain when raiding one of Danzo's bases, she finds a little boy who can use _Mokuton_ and needs her protection.

( _Kakashi-senpai_ , he calls her. And so they bond.)

Kakashi is nineteen when Obito wakes up and she feels happy again. She doesn't quit ANBU, for it is a part of her life already.

(Also she loves Genma and Raidou and Tenzo and Kara and Iwaza — loves Turtle and Lion and Tenzo and Lizard and Owl.)

Shortly after, she deals with the —how Naras would say, _troublesome_ — aftermath of Danzo's death. She —with many others— starts countering the brain-washing of Ne's and returns some kids to their homes, safe and not sound but at least safe.

And then—

Then she starts living again.

(With Obito's smile —even though he's not out of the hospital yet— and Kushina at her home with Naruto —finally together, just as they should have been from the start—, with Rin's loving gazes and Gai's challenges and _Icha Icha_ , with her ANBU Squad and her dogs by her side.)

Kakashi smiles once she and Obito talk and decide that he would be moving to her apartment with her once he's free to go and leave the hospital's bed.

(Kakashi blushes once they talk about their relationship and Obito's tender eye is fixed on her.)

(She has a boyfriend and Kushina's _so loud_ when she congratulates them.)

(She loves her anyway.)

(She's also the happiest she's been in years, and it makes her heart want to explode every time she sees her loved ones together and smiling.)

( _She's going to protect this_.)


	14. where the early bird catches the worm

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Chapter XIV_**

 _Where The Early Bird Catches The Worm_

* * *

Kakashi's nineteen, has defeated Danzo along with the ANBU, has a big sister and a little brother, and is absolutely terrified because she doesn't know what the hell she's going to do with the mess that's hers and Obito's relationship.

(Maybe it's not _such_ a mess. Maybe it's her, the mess.)

It's been fantastic so far, but Kakashi and Obito—

Kakashi and Obito are best friends, have been for the last seven years.

And then they kissed.

Kissed as, made out in a hospital bed, ate each other's mouth and tried to do the same with their tongues.

(God, they— they _kissed_.)

And now he's her _boyfriend_.

Which is—

Is—

Is more than she could ever hope for, but at the same time it's strange, because she's been pining after him for so long that finally kissing his lips is like she's living on a dream.

(She's also kind of freaked out, because she _doesn't want to screw this up_.)

(So maybe it's not the relationship that's a mess, but her and her insecurities and all that tries to bring her down at night.)

Obito's to be released from the hospital in a few hours and Kakashi doesn't know what to do because the Hokage sent her on a mission just two weeks after she and Obito _talked_.

( _Fuck him_ , wanted to say Kakashi.)

(But Kakashi is a shinobi and the Hokage's word is law, the Hokage's word is what matters the most.)

( _"You're the only one I can count on for this, Kakashi. I'm sorry."_ )

(The Third is tired.)

(Kakashi is, too.)

When Kakashi returns to Konoha —having completed the mission days before what was accorded, because Obito's going home and if that's not a good motivation she doesn't know what is— it's four a.m., and she doesn't expect anyone to be waiting at the gates for her.

(Rin needs her sleep the most, Kushina's walking but still has difficulties and she's with Naruto, _should_ be with Naruto.)

(Gai is away on a mission and her ANBU team wouldn't come, they know not to.)

(And Obito is still in the hospital.)

( _Probably._ )

She pauses when she sees a figure at the gates.

And wonders.

Because this was a solo mission.

Because there shouldn't be anyone there with the exception of the guards.

Because there _is_.

And Kakashi moves forward.

(She almost _runs_ , having already recognized the silhouette.)

"What are you doing here?" she asks.

And then he smiles, completely unremorseful. "Can't I see my girlfriend after three weeks of being alone, in a hospital bed, abandoned and sad?"

And Kakashi—

Kakashi laughs.

"Yeah."

(Then she lowers her mask, and kisses him.)

Obito hums in the kiss, passing his hands through her long hair —which is already long enough to cover her entire spine— and runs his tongue through her lip in a plea to deepen the kiss.

Of course, Kakashi complies.

(The guards at the gate just ignore what's happening right in front of them. Has to be a hallucination, this. Because there's _no way_ that _Hellhound_ , that _Kakashi of the Sharingan_ is actually making out like some horny teenager at the gates of Konoha with a man they haven't seen in years.)

( _Ha ha_ , that's what happens when you live off caffeine and have guard duty at four in the morning, one whispers to the other.)

"It's really early," Kakashi whispers. "And you should be at the hospital."

And Obito smiles again. "Well, I really missed you, so..."

Kakashi sighs —and just like that Obito's pardoned— and softly smiles.

They're going home, now.

(They're going home together for the first time in a really long time.)

(There are going to be struggles, Kakashi knows that. She doesn't like her body, hates it in fact, and having a sexual relationship with Obito is going to be complicated in that part. But she also loves him, and maybe _that's_ what matters the most.)

(As they smile shyly at each other on the sofa, because this is a new dynamic for them, Kakashi thinks it was all worth it.)

* * *

Author's Note;

First of all, thanks to "Guest", who's been correcting my mistakes, I'll rectify them as fast as I can —but probably not today, I'm still on my vacation—, like I literally love you right now because I know my English ain't the best, and well, I appreciate it. Thanks again, lovely! Thanks, obviously, to all the others who like the fanfic. And for all of you to know, I got accepted into the college I wanted! I'm like, vomiting rainbows or something.

Love y'all,

—bluebxrry.


	15. where there's a way to happiness

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Chapter XV_**

 _Where There's A Way To Happiness_

* * *

Inside Kakashi's apartment, with her mission cleared and her report to the Hokage delivered —as it should be—, Kakashi and Obito stand at less than a meter from each other, staring into the other's eyes and in silence.

"Can I—" starts the brunette in nothing more than a whisper, caressing one of her cheeks. "Can I kiss you, Kakashi?"

And what more can she do other than lower her mask and nod, a small smile in her face as she does so, really?

(And how dare he be so sweet, it's turning her _soft_.)

Inside Kakashi's apartment, with the dawn on them and the singing of the birds, Kakashi and Obito stand kissing each other. Her hands on his waist, his wrapped around her neck.

When his tongue pleads for permission, she gives it. And when they stop to breathe —but what wouldn't Kakashi give to lose the necessity right now— his hands unwrap and begin to tangle with her hair, she sighs pleasurably — she hasn't felt this good in _ages_.

"I love you."

It is said in a whisper, and two meters apart from the sofa on the living room, and breathless after all the kissing they've done, but truer words haven't been spoken.

"I love you _so damn much._ "

(Kakashi nearly chokes at her confession. But it's true, and she can't get over how much she loves this man.)

(She still can't believe he's awake.)

Then Obito smiles, full of joy —because even when they said those words in the hospital multiple times, every time he hears her say them his heart accelerates and happiness fills his body like nothing ever before— and with beginnings of tears in his eyes, because he's always been a sentimental fool, pulls together their foreheads and says:

"Hey," he starts, "I love you too."

Later, when they've fallen into the sofa and made out like teenagers —the guards at the gate are still waiting for another hallucination to come— they smile and cuddle.

(Because even when Kakashi has disliked physical affection since forever, she can't deny Obito anything.)

(And if Obito loves something, it's cuddles.)

(And Kakashi, Obito _definitely_ loves Kakashi.)

The next day, Kakashi wakes up in Obito's arms, her head in his shoulder and her mask lowered. It's—

It's—

It's a blessing, that's what it is. She smiles softly for it and pecks his cheek.

"Good morning."

And Obito —boy he still is, even with the body of a grown-up man—, opens his eye and grins mischievously at her. "Good morning, 'Kashi."

Not a second passes before he's tickling her, and she tenses her muscles in response. Kakashi's not ticklish, not at all.

(Thank god for ninja training, or she would have lost a lot more than her reputation over the years.)

(She's _not_ ticklish, okay?)

(Not at all.)

(Obito is, though. And his laughter is a gift she won't ever stop thanking for.)

Days pass and there's no one that can convince Kakashi to stop her smile from happening. Things aren't perfect, of course. Obito and Kakashi fight and Rin has to live with Naruto and Kushina because unlike before, they don't have a babysitter for Naruto —the kind civilian still visiting, even though she had a job at her father's ramen restaurant—, and Kushina's still not at full health —nor, they think, will she ever be—, and Gai and the rest still think she's a man, and it's got Kakashi a little bit down, but all in all — things are far better than before, and Kakashi's grateful.

(Obito's still grieving for Minato, for their _sensei_ , for their _Hokage_.)

(Obito's grieving for their father and Kakashi knows, she's grieving for him too. For the fact that they didn't have more time together, for the fact that Obito was in a coma while the rest of them dressed in black and cried for the one that taught them what summer breeze tasted like.)

(For the father they had and Naruto would never know.)

 _But it'll be okay_ , she thinks. _It'll be_.

And it'll be, because Naruto is smiling and Kushina is, too. Because her family is together and will overcome the sadness that sometimes makes itself home in them.

(Because for all that there are tears, Obito smiles and Rin laughs, and Kakashi is _happy_.)

(Because for once Kakashi knows that they'll be _fine_ , and it overwhelms her.)

(Gai will know soon enough. Her ANBU team will know soon enough —Obito still stubborn on the matter of her being ANBU Captain, and on letting her team know—.)

(She will cut her hair a little, though. Maybe shoulder-length. It would be cute, wouldn't it?)


	16. where bliss takes over

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2017; bluebxrry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Chapter XVI_**

 _Where Bliss Takes Over_

* * *

Kakashi's twenty-three and more content than she would have ever thought. She knows, she's had her hardships — everyone who's a ninja has had them. But, to feel what she's feeling now, the calmness that wraps around her—

She knows few know the meaning of peace in a world where kids are trained to be killers and trust is reserved only for those who see behind the walls of one's home.

But in Obito's arms, seeing a six-year-old Naruto play with other children, admiring the view that is Rin and Kushina laughing while watching over the little blond devil, and knowing that finally what she thought would be a secret all her life wasn't any more, Kakashi can safely say that yes, despite all the hardships and the nightmares, despite the loses and the not-quite ones, despite being a _shinobi_ , she knows what peace feels like.

(And it's wonderful and absolutely breathtaking. Even if it won't last, even if it will end someday.)

(Because it will — her world is one of violence.)

(But while it's tranquil, she will relax and enjoy what she can.)

(Like the fact that she wakes up with Obito by her side.)

On other matters, not long after Obito's awakening from the coma, she came out to her friends.

(Read, Gai and her ANBU team. Her social skills hadn't improved much in the three years the love of her life had been playing _Sleeping Beauty_.)

And while it was nerve-wracking, because _honestly_ , why couldn't her friends be normal, she's still glad she did it. No one else needed to know — she was a private person, and having her friends _in the know_ was —and still is— enough for her.

There have been downs along the ups, of course — like the fact that she can't get a sex-changing surgery even if Tsunade miraculously is to return to Konoha, because she's already twenty-three and the operation can't be done if the patient's over twenty. Something about the stress that being a ninja puts in the body. It felt like she was numb when she first received the news. But with her pack's —the human one— help, she accepted it. Not get over it —she would never, she didn't think she could— but she had lived all her life in a body that was hers but wasn't what it was supposed to be, and while it hurt —in a different way than all the hurts before, but not causing less pain— she kind of moved on.

(Not completely, not really. But she had made a step ahead and not looked back, because she had enough regrets drowning her at night and didn't need another.)

On another note, Naruto's going to start the academy in two years.

He's going to be a shinobi, just like the rest of his family.

It's—

Heartbreaking, to say at least. Maybe because it means that someday his smile can be wiped off —the cruelness of their reality almost impossible to ignore— or maybe because it means he's growing up and she, selfishly, doesn't want that. He is her little ray of sunshine, will always be. But he needs to make his way through the world, and she knows that.

It's just, _sad_.

(Kakashi isn't prone to melancholy, but, she thinks, this might be it.)

"What are you thinking of, 'Kashi?" a voice behind her whispers.

She smiles —by his side, how can she not— and, mood completely changed, deviously answers: "Let's go home, Obito."

(And _oh_ , how glad she is that the reservations in sex have been thrown out of the window.)

( _Yes_ , she thinks as they close their bedroom's door, _she's more than glad about it_.)

(His hands memorizing every inch of her body, her mouth in his neck, the butterfly touches of his lips in her chest—)

(—his mouth on her dick, hers on his. Slow, fast, hard, soft. Thrust upon thrust, sweat all over them and the dried sperm spread over the sheets. Tongues with the taste of heaven and fingers that resonate on her spine. Shivers from lust and eyes full of desire. Her hands down his nipples, his dick entering her ass —raw, large and so delightfully _his_ —; their bodies intertwined as if it were a dance.)

(Teeth and tongues and glances and touches. Hickeys and biting marks and fingertips imprints, and making love and fucking and their kind of sexual healing. Cries that are drawn out of pleasure and words that are melted out of love.)

(Sighs, cries, meowls, groans, moans.)

( _"Fuck, I love you, Kakashi." he lets out as he dives into her, fast and strong and a lot of things Kakashi can't think about now, not really. They're panting, slowly driving each other out of their minds, any kind of thought forgotten except those that begin at the other's skin and end in reciting one another's name on a pursuit of their favourite cardinal sin. "I— Fuck, I love you too, 'Tobi."_ )

It's wasn't long before the population caught on their relationship —they didn't hide away, even if at first were a little more reserved— and congratulations and glares behind their back came and went.

And though Kakashi rarely grins, she's tempted several times a day, now.

She's completely and utterly happy, at peace with herself, content with the life she's lived and will continue to live.

(And everything has ups and has downs, there's more pain in her soul than anyone can imagine, but there's joy inside of her and it burns every time she's reminded that for all that she's lost, she has reasons to live to the fullest.)

(She's loved for the way she is, and she loves for the way her loved ones are.)

(And for all that her fathers are missing, Kakashi feels —for the first time— like the turmoil that was her life has calmed and has left instead a peaceful weave of bliss.)

(She thanks all the gods above and falls asleep with the warmth that is Obito besides her.)


	17. where theirs is a family of choice

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

* * *

© 2018; soheresaberry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Chapter XVII_**

 _Where Theirs Is A Family Of Choice_

* * *

Kakashi's twenty-six years old when Obito, sweet Obito, drops a bomb on her. One she doesn't know how to respond to. She loves Obito, of course she does, there's nothing in this world he could do for her to stop loving him. But—

But—

 _But_ — _!_

What he's saying, what he's convincing her of doing right now leaves her in _shock_. Completely, utterly shocked, that's what she is.

There's uncertainty in Obito's eyes —and obviously she notices, she would _always_ notice— and he's far more nervous than everyone else might believe —except for Rin, because Rin _always_ knows, somehow—.

( _Minato-sensei_ would have noticed it too, would have _known_ because he was omnipotent and so she firmly believed.)

(But he wasn't. Not really.)

(Kakashi still loves Minato-sensei far more than what others think is healthy. Grieves him because he was _father_ and she'd already lost one of those.)

(She knows it's the same for Obito, who never knew his parents and took their sensei as an adopted one, and for Rin, whose father bolted at hearing about the pregnancy of her mother and left them behind.)

(But Minato-sensei _died_ , and he left them but not really, because he would always stay in their minds and hearts and in Naruto. So they grieve, and they don't move on, but they take a step towards the future and feel him smiling from their side. Because they would never, _ever_ , leave him behind.)

"Obito, did you—" she takes a moment to take a deep breath, and continues: "Did you just said we should _adopt_?"

He's a ball of nerves, there's a faint blush on his face, his entire body language is focused on her and is jittery at best. He's supposed to be a shinobi. _Honestly_.

He is shifting his weight constantly between his legs as if he couldn't stay put. Which, okay, he's Obito, he probably has more energy than a fully charged battery.

"I—, I mean, there's— uh, a kid, not _my_ kid, but _someone else's_ kid, and they're, um, _unsuited_ to take care of them, because, because they're not always in the village, you know? But until recently they had, um, someone who took care of the kid, but now the old man's _dead_ , so they don't have anyone else. And, and they, _were_ a good friend of my—, my parents, _and they kinda asked me?_ " he ends with a really high-pitched voice she hasn't heard from him since he was at least _eighteen_ , and _woah_.

(Obito's adorable, she's never been able to do anything about it, he's also incredibly hot, he's also irrationally _good_ , she's a puddle of goo whenever he asks her something, _why is this a question again?_ )

Kakashi, though Obito's far cuter than he should have the right to be, takes a moment to breathe and _think_. "So, your parents had a friend, and this friend now has a child, but as if I suspect they work as a spy," and when she looks at the brunet for confirmation, he nods, doesn't say anything out loud but _nods_ , "then they obviously can't take care of a baby. They had someone else, an old man, that took care of the kid, but he died. And they want _you_ , and going by our relationship, _us_ , to take care of them. Is that it?"

Her partner —lover, husband, whatever— nods again, face red and heart beating as twice as fast, and Kakashi—

Kakashi doesn't know what to do.

She's never been great with _social interaction_ , how the hell is she supposed to _take care of a child_ , she doesn't know. She thanked the gods for Kushina, because if she wasn't there, she didn't know how Naruto would have turned out like —with Rin being the only positive maybe-parental figure in his life, because Kakashi herself was a wreck and Obito was no better, too young at nineteen to even _think_ about children, less take care of one as delicate as the Jinchuuriki—. But now, now Obito's twenty-eight and she's twenty-six.

Maybe they can make it work, after all.

(She's not making any promises, but _family_ sounds nice. She knows Obito's wanted one since _forever_.)

(Maybe she's wanted one too.)

(Even if she does have one. Kushina-nee-san and Naru-chan and Rin and Obito are her family. But a _pup_ on her and Obito's own. Huh.)

"And they won't want them back once this friend of your parents is back to the village?" she asks, because that's a concern. She doesn't want to get attached if that means losing the kid once the biological parent comes to them.

Obito, though, shakes his head. "No, they won't. Hase's new mission is too long. Twelve years until they come back, _minimum_. And with their partner and their father dead, they don't have anyone else. Hase said that it was better for their son to grow up loved, _like they knew would happen if we took care of him_ , than waiting for his estranged parent to come back. Hase _loves_ their child. They _do_ , they really do. But circumstances are not great, and when they asked me—"

When he starts rambling, Kakashi puts a hand in his mouth. And because family's something she has but not completely, because Obito's telling her _I want to raise this child with you_ , she nods.

Tears are threatening to fall from her eyes, and her smile's so wide she doesn't think she's ever smiled like this before, and it hurts her cheeks. She's _so goddamn happy_.

"Yes," she responds. "Yes, I'll adopt this child with you."

Obito's face is an open book, and the joy and happiness in his eyes tell her he's been waiting for this a long time.

(Kakashi gave up when she heard that she couldn't go under surgery. Now she knows Obito never gave up, and she's _thankful_ , so she hugs the life out of the man she loves and lowers her mask and kisses his lips and makes love to him and shows him that she _loveslovesloves_ him.)

She meets Hase's kid —he's three years old, and tiny, and a _pup_ , oh _god_ — a day later, and though she will be taking this to her grave, he's _adorable_. His name is Ryū, and she's besotted with him since she spared him a glance not even five seconds after entering the house he's living in.

(To. The. Grave.)

Ryū has dark brown hair, just like Obito, and dark grey eyes he's apparently inherited from the other parent who —surprise of the _year_ — was not an Uchiha. He's a bit of a shy kid with her, but he's excitable and acts more like Naruto —a bubble of joy and endless energy— when he's around Obito.

He's going to get comfortable around her in no time, she swears.

Three days later, the adoption papers are ready, and they take Ryū home.

(It's more complicated than that. They have to get the adoption papers, the approbation of the Clan Head, of Hase, of the _Hokage_ —like, _why the fuck_ — and they talk to Ryū about it. He's happy to be living with Obito and seems intrigued by her. He's such an adorable _puppy_. He even has the puppy-eyes. Fucking Uchiha, ruining her reputation of being impassible to everything. He and Obito are the bane of her existence, she's sure of that.)

He cries, asks where's his _ojii-san_ , and is a handful at his best moments, and though love doesn't come easily for Kakashi, at four months of living with the little rascal, she's sure she loves him.

She tells Obito first and then sits one afternoon with her —it's a little bit early to call him _son_ , but it's what it feels like— and while both of them are reading a book, Ryū in her lap, and she holding him, she pauses narrating for a moment and looks at him in the eyes.

"Ryū," she calls his attention. And because she's never been good at anything but at being a shinobi —despite what her team and Naruto and Kushina say— she says: "I love you, Ryū."

His eyes grow misty, and he wraps his tiny arms around her in an attempt to hug her, and practically buries his head in her stomach. She pats his head, not sure of what to do.

"I love you too."

(And if her heart flutters and there's a smile behind her mask, and if she's too entranced to notice Obito upon the door, smiling to himself and grinning like a madman because he's never been _happier_ , then no one says anything.)

Ryū calls Naruto _nii-chan_ , calls Kushina _obaa-san_ , calls Rin _oba-san_ , and at eight months after they first met, Ryū calls Kakashi _kaa-chan_ and Obito _tou-chan_.

(Oh, how her ANBU team teases her for it. Saying she's adorable, she's a _big softie under all the crankiness_. One would think they don't have enough of Hell Training, with the way they tease her.)

(Also, they _might_ be the babysitters when Rin's not available, or Kushina and Naruto are off to one of their _fuuinjutsu lessons_ , god forbid an Uzumaki not learning that art. Better them than Gai, _duh_.)

(And Genma has three chunin he adopted a while back. Kotetsu, Izumo and Iruka, was it? They turned out quite well, so _at least_ she can trust him with Ryū.)

(Raidou, Tenzo, Kara and Iwaza — they're absolutely _hopeless_ when it comes to children. _Why_ did she had the idea to trust them, again?)

( _Oh_. Yeah. Because _Gai_ is the other option. Yeah, _no way in hell_.)

(And Obito's friends— Asuma, Kurenai, _Gai_ , Shisui —and why is Obito friends with that _menace_ , honestly—, _Anko_ , yeah, no, she prefers picking Genma over all of them. The only normal one is Kurenai —and Asuma, but he's in the capital being a glorified bodyguard for the Daimyō— and she _doesn't know her_. So, Genma it is.)

There are difficulties to come. Kakashi's sure of that. But this warmth, this happiness that doesn't slip through her fingers but _stays_ , is what Kakashi lives for.

It's what Kakashi will fight for.

It's what Kakashi will protect.

(Even at the cost of her own life.)

(She wishes Sakumo and Minato were with them, but she knows, they're watching over them, wanting them to _live_.)

(Years later, when the Fourth Ninja War occurs, and Minato is resurrected he looks at them and _smiles_ , bright like the sun and as resembling as it could be to his own son's smile, and they feel his chakra bask in happiness for them, tells them all how _proud_ he is, tells them all how much _love_ he has for them —even if that they already knew— and none of them can stop the tears. Nor do they want to.)

(Ryū and Obito and Rin and Naruto and Kushina and her ANBU and Gai are still alive after the whole ordeal, and she can't thank anyone enough. They've faced _so much_ in such a short time, and the Akatsuki had brought _so much hurt_ with them, Jiraiya was dead, Tsunade almost didn't survive Pain's invasion, plenty of comrades were dead and it was because some _goddess_ wanted to take back _chakra_. What is their life anymore, really.)

(Even though her ANBU are all ANBU in the war because after Pain's —Nagato's— invasion Obito was made _Hokage_ and she his ANBU General, so _all_ ANBU respond to her command. Still, _her_ ANBU will always be the team who got her through hard missions, who still calls her _Captain_ instead of _General_ , who are still _little shits_ even when she is the ANBU with more power and only the Hokage can overrule her.)

(And the Hokage knows she's got the heart and the mind in the right place because the Hokage is Obito. And Obito will always trust her, but if he thinks it's not right he will call her on it. And they will discuss the issue, and overcome the obstacle with Rin's help —she's the Head of the Hospital along with Tsunade— or with Shikaku's. Obito's a good Hokage, _great_ even, and is that what makes people adore him.)

(Even _Tobirama_ approved of Obito during the war.)

( _Oh, how she loves that man_.)


	18. where the end takes place

**THE WOUND'S STILL BLEEDING**

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© 2018; soheresaberry

* * *

 ** _Summary;_**

Kakashi is a girl, she really is, despite her wrong body and her less-than-delicate attitude.

* * *

 ** _Epilogue_**

 _Where The End Takes Place_

* * *

Naruto is twelve when he graduates from the Academy and is made Genin. Iruka-sensei, who _cares_ about him and is not like the other teachers —who sneered, snarled, wanted him _gone_ — was hurt in the process, what with Mizuki being a traitor and Iruka-sensei defending _him_ against the pale-haired Chunin.

Naruto has known about the Kyuubi since he was eight and entered at the Academy. His mom told him, and she was the one who held it before him, so she knows what she's talking about when she says he's not a monster.

(His brother and two sisters don't think he's a monster either, and he's ever so thankful for having them, even if he doesn't always show it. And two of them —Tobi-nii and Kashi-nee, the nicknames he gave them when he was like, three years old— gave him Ryū, his little brother-cousin-family, who doesn't think he's a monster either.)

He ends up in Team 7 with that stuck-up Uchiha, Sasuke —who is Itachi's little brother, the friend of Shisui who is friends with Tobi-nii— and a pretty girl whose name is Haruno Sakura. He likes her, he _really_ does, but she's mean, sometimes. Especially when he's fighting with Sasuke.

(He holds the shiver when his mother looks at them and laughs, saying _oh, this is how Obito and Kakashi started, too_.)

When the instructors have all arrived —and what a shame that Rin is already a sensei, because he would have _loved_ to have her as a Jōnin-sensei, no matter what her students say about her being _a devil in disguise_ , his nee-chan is _awesome_ , not more than his mother, but still— they stay behind when their Jōnin-sensei is _late_.

He's having a bad feeling about this.

When, seventeen minutes later, the door opens, he looks at it hoping that it won't be who he thinks is it.

Praying definitely pays off, because instead of Kashi-nee —oh, the _horror_ — it's Tobi-nii who appears in the Academy class.

"Ah, sorry, sorry!" he says, sheepish as he can be. "There was an old lady, and one always has to help them, you know?"

His Jōnin-sensei is _Tobi-nii_.

Obito-sensei now, he supposes.

Still, it's _awesome_. Because even though it's not a joy to train with him —it always leaves him exhausted— it's better than having a training session with _Kashi-nee_. The _slave driver_ has even _him_ with chakra exhaustion and muscle aching for _days_ , if not _weeks_.

No, better Tobi-nii, he's reasonable, he doesn't have Hell Training, and is generally laid back and _sociable_ , a word which his nee-chan doesn't seem to know. If not for Ryū, Naruto would have serious doubts about her being able to even _hold_ a child. And anyway, that's only her son and him. The rest are, and he's quoting, _'evil pups from the gates of hell'_.

(He learns later, Obito-sensei _does_ have Hell Training, all of the Team 7 do. Minato, his _father_ , was the one who started the whole thing. And now is a _Team 7_ thing. Which means that, _probably_ , Sasuke and Sakura and he are going to have a version themselves, and he doesn't know what he fears the most, the Team Minato's version, or what his teammates, with their sadistic tendencies, will come up with.)

(Naruto successfully ignores the fact that he's a terror in the village regarding his pranks, how he cackles after them, and how much glee it provokes in him to have those villagers trembling for when's his next prank.)

They meet at the roof of the Academy, and they introduce themselves.

(Sasuke's goal is to surpass his brother, Sakura's to _marry_ Sasuke —which, _ew_ — and his is to become Hokage. _Duh_.)

(Obito, they learn, is _next in line_ to be Hokage. Uh. Who knew.)

(In truth, Obito's not Hokage because he's spent years recuperating from the coma, and there's still opposition to an _Uchiha_ being Hokage. And there are issues —like the whole thing with Danzo and his brainwashed minions, or the disaster with Orochimaru, or the rocky alliance with Suna— so he can't take The Hat yet. He _will_ , he just has to _wait_.)

The next day — _we're doing a test to determine whether or not are you ready to be a shinobi, or in Sakura's case, a kunoichi_ , Obito-sensei said, _maybe think about what you've learnt in the Academy, yeah?_ — they face The Bells Test™ and _pass_. Not at first, but they pass either way.

They're Team 7 now.

And he's Naruto, but now he's Naruto and Sakura and Sasuke because they're a _team_.

And they're going to _turn the world upside down_.

 _Believe it._

(And they do, and it's _awesome_ , and Obito is _sure_ their goal is to make his hair as white as Kakashi's — _it's not white, it's silver you idiotic moron!_ , yeah, _right_.)

(For her part, his partner only cackles from the distance and prays she's not ever taken away from ANBU and forced to be Jōnin-sensei in the privacy of her thoughts.)


End file.
